Taylor Yard/ Rio de Los Angeles State Park

For river activists, Taylor Yard has always represented the brass ring. The 200+ acre historic site just north of downtown presents the greatest opportunity to create a meaningful watershed-based project that exemplifies the multiple benefits approach to river revitalization.

Taylor Yard is a 247-acre former railyard with over two miles of Los Angeles River frontage located near downtown Los Angeles, opposite Elysian Park just north of the Arroyo Seco. It is the largest undeveloped parcel on the LA River, presenting extraordinary opportunities for river restoration, stormwater detention, recreational resources and economic revitalization for the densely populated, underserved adjacent communities.

After a decade of controversy, lawsuits and community activism, the passage of the statewide parks bond Prop 12 provided the means to realize a green vision of Taylor Yard. At The River Project’s urging in June 2000, the Governor and the State Legislature approved $45 Million to acquire lands at Taylor Yard and create the first new State Park in Los Angeles in a generation.

In January of 2001, The Coalition for a State Park at Taylor Yard, organized by The River Project, filed a successful legal action against the City of Los Angeles, the Union Pacific Railroad, and Lennar Partners, to prevent a 650,000 sq. ft. industrial development at the site. Together, we advocated instead for a 100-acre urban park along the Los Angeles River that would meet both active and passive needs, connect the community to the River, and restore some of our fast-disappearing native habitat. State Parks has committed to facilitating this integrated vision, which has since been widely adopted by numerous elected officials and government agencies.

State Parks acquired the 40-acre Parcel D in December 2001. In order to realize the complex vision for the site that was the consensus of more than three dozen community groups that made up The Coalitionfor a State Park at Taylor Yard, State Parks and Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks had to conceive a new way of working together. The partnership they formed worked hand in hand with the community to create a unique and seamless urban park that meets a multiplicity of needs through sustainable design. Phase One of Rio de Los Angeles State Park opened to the public on Earth Day of 2007.

In December of 2003, State Parks acquired the 18-acre Parcel G1 with the intention of expanding Rio de Los Angeles State Park. It is currently the subject of an Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study, led by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Texas Developer Trammell Crow Company has entered into a purchase option agreement with Union Pacific Railroad, with the stated intention of developing Parcel G2 for industrial use. Given that the site’s severe access constraints and its proximity to the park, the school, and the river would make developing anything other than open space very difficult, some have speculated that they plan to purchase the land, then sell to the state in order to realize a substantial, unearned profit. This purchase option expires at the end of June 2013.

Please help us make Trammell Crow understand that any intervention at Parcel G2 makes them a bad actor against communities and the environment of Los Angeles. Let them know you stand with the Coalition’s vision of Rio de Los Angeles State Park as a 100-acre urban oasis with 2 miles of River frontage.

With continued community involvement, the critical remaining 44 acres along the River (Parcel G2) will ultimately be purchased and added to Rio de Los Angeles State Park, realizing the Coalition's vision.